Holy cow, what a great chapter. Keep up the awesome work Mr. Spurrier. Quick question though, did the Captain's uniform get a little bit of crossed baby gunk on it? Because it seemed like his wife got infected from coming into skin contact with him and his uniform, rather than the bits of baby that got on her clothes...

Also I feel pretty confident that the Garbage Bag Mummy is most certainly infected. I think that His/Her abnormal behavior is indicative of orders from a higher(?) authority and the really terrifying part is how strictly those orders are followed. What is the nun doing to keep all of the crossed in line following her and her orders? I personally think that they follow her because of the way the virus seems to be manifesting in her. I think that her epilepsy caused the virus to succeed in removing her inhibitions and make her a willing participant in her own defilement and degradation, but it appears as though it failed to manifest the normal rabid violence against any people available, and crossed failing the presence of people. I think when we witnessed the massive horde of crossed at the standing stones, staple-gunning the veil to her head, we were seeing her soak up all the vile abuse they had to throw at her. And witnessing her take the abuse unlike any person, who would be screaming and begging for mercy, or any crossed, who would be laughing, cussing, and begging for more, is what impresses the crossed, or mystifies them, enough into following her. I don't know just my humble opinion that's been growing since the second volume.

Lastly, has anyone done a size comparison between the Garbage Bag Mummy and the Game Keeper? I seem to remember the Game Keeper being about the same size as everyone else, while the Garbage Bag Mummy seems to tower over everyone, save for maybe Jackson.

While loading up things on the truck, there seem to be non soldiers staying in the truck. looks like kids, women and old people. and they are cheering when Seline is signaling them that the wife seems to be ok. Maybe they were putting that truck together as an evac plan? Captain signals said truck when the Crossed storm into the castle and the truck sets of to the blast open exit door.

Also, boxer is shielding himself from bullets with another Crossed while storming the castle.

Well, the boxer mummy is either wrapped up to save him from getting infected or to keep him from being infected (or maybe from being recognized ((more long term planning?))?). I say "he" because I think it may be The Gamekeeper. We never actually saw him die, right? And maybe he's not even crossed, though I think the single syllable he uttered way back may have been in Crossed font. Maybe he and the Sister Theresa are infected with some type of mutated stain that doesn't cause the facial scars nor overt violent behavior? And seeing that dentist lady at the end makes me think that everyone Shakey abandons is gathering to get him. Also, the boxer mummy seems to be bald/baldish.

I'm rethinking the Gameskeeper being the boxer mummy now. The boxer mummy has moves, seems to be fast and I doubt the Gameskeeper would have those moves and speed after being shot in the back of the neck, even if he still is alive. And it appears to be just as tall, if not taller than Sister Theresa and again, bald/balding.

1. Teresa isn't crossed, she's X'd, which, given her control over the crossed and herself, means she has a more refined strain of the virus. For whatever reason, the marks on her face went along with the scars she got from the GK. Coincidence, time...will...tell

2. No way the GK is the Garbage Bag Mummy. The GK was royally fucked when they left him. Not to mention he's around 100 years old, average height and scrawny. GBM is built like a house and carried fat Seline out of the base with one hand.

3. It only makes sense for the GBM to not be crossed or X'd. First, he isn't pounding Seline or the old women into mush, nor did he try to attack any of the soldiers, or Shaky's group. Second, It almost looked like he was trying to comfort Seline when they left the base. Third, he doesn't have command over the other crossed like Teresa. It makes more sense that he is either Jackson, who disappeared from Shaky's group before GBM appeared, who was following shaky's group and collecting his letters to Teresa. Or, an un-introduced character who, for whatever reason, is a crossed sympathizer, and Teresa is using him as leverage.

4. The GBM is not a slave to Teresa, he could have escaped multiple times now.

@Jumpit The GBM is definitely not Jackson. They both have been present at the exact same time and place before. Also, the GBM is Crossed. Si himself confirmed it. I agree that he is not the Gamekeeper, not only for the size difference, but have a look back at the times the nun has appeared in her boat. There is a bald old man, Crossed, with a huge beard. THAT is probably the Gamekeeper. The GBM takes orders from the nun. He has accompanied her on many occasions and clearly is doing her bidding. And remember, most Crossed do not control other Crossed. Only a few(Horsecock, Smoky, Teresa, for example) are able to do this.

@blighty. Thanks for the corrections. I wondered too if the GK was one of the guys on the boat with Teresa.

At this point, I guess the only thing that makes sense is to assume GBM is Snake Eyes from G.I. Joe. Since he's a ninja, he would have more self control over his actions than other crossed. He never speaks and he also seemed to know his way around the military base a little <em>too</em>well. I think Teresa made him wear boxing gloves so he couldn't use his ninja weapons and kill all the other crossed. But why would Snake Eyes be under the command of Teresa? What happened to the other Joe's? I don't think they are crossed, because they would have killed every living thing on the planet by now, like democrats are trying to do. So, they are probably just hiding. Another thought, what if the thing that makes people crossed isn't a virus, but progressive liberalism gone awry? That baby they blew up in the air still had its umbilical cord and birth fluids on its body, was this a post birth abortion? Also, the crossed don't work, or even try to get jobs, they just take everything from normal, uncrossed, people who are societies producers and in return, rape, torture and murder them. I guess this would be called "Ultra Progressive "Liberalism."

But if Snake Eyes is the GBM, I think it will be an interesting crossover which could open doors to other characters and villains. Does Avatar even have the rights to use G.I. Joe characters? Because I love steam-punk, I hope they have Captain Swing vs. the Crossed. Anyway, I look forward to the next issue and hope everyone's August is treating them well.

@longtimelurker I understand your reasoning, and appreciate the clever names. But, as a professional, I strongly encourage you to do some research on logical fallacies. http://owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/659/03/

The Crossed have nothing to do with global warming. I don't think the situation merits more proof than that.

The Crossed are not preemptively invading anyone, but, are migrating to nations who feel cultural diversity is going to work out somehow in the long run. This is why the United States and western Europe are the first to go down the toilet. When the crossed come in to western societies, they're all like "Oh, look at that lovely religious symbol on your forehead! You know, I think that people from other cultures who do not value personal responsibility and education will fit right in hearAHHHHHHHHHHH!"

The ultra progressive liberal crossed, like their cousins, progressive liberals, always have a picnic when they first come to town because there is plenty of money and people. But, eventually, you run out of other peoples money, and people.

Ironically, I'm pretty sure it will be North Korea who will stand as the last defense for the survival of the human race once all the other nations have run out of other peoples money, and people. Mainly because North Koreans are a suspicious lot and even act like the crossed sometimes by taking whatever they can from anybody without even a thank you. Lucky for the rest of us, Kim Jong-un was born perfect.

NK would probably do well because they'd have no hesitation in killing people as they crossed. Also, not enough food reserves and the people are too lean to live off of. The crossed NKers would die from starvation.

@MrBogey I don't know, when all other governments become a "dump of dead diddlers," maybe this is when we will see the North Korean Spring! Cause now, they can just go get tons of food and machinery without anybody caring.

I don't know if the citizens of North Korea will even understand what's going on. Given their propaganda, they pretty much expect everyone in the world to act like the crossed anyway. So, when they go out to collect supplies in mass, any attacks by crossed will be expected as such. I think they would really enjoy mowing down crossed trying to get past the border. Even if crossed Psy was Gangnam Styling his way in. The leaders would have a field day building national pride and morale from what they would call the "U.S. Imperialist Aggressor Forces" invasion. You can take that to the bank for sure.

I can't say where GBM/Snake Eyes is at this point, but might once we get through the next couple issues.

Could the hooded bearded guy be the guy that was supposedly immune but got knifed in the neck and fell in the river? He could survive that. Maybe Sister Therese figured out a way to use his immunity to control the plusfaces? I think he'd hooded so Shakey (and the reader) do not recognize him.

I did a research project on North Korea for university and there is more to it than a lot of people generally know. A lot of bootlegged entertainment material, especially South Korean drama and movies do get across the border from China and is very popular. People have been getting a much better idea of what the world is like outside the country than they used to. The government is currently in no realistic danger of falling but small cracks are starting to open up in the official government picture.

From the point of view of the Crossed Universe, if it was a subclinical infection originally which had quietly infecting people that suddenly flared into active status (hence the simultaneous mass outbreaks all over the world), North Korea could actually be well protected as whole regions of the country are off limits, not only to foreigners but even people from other parts of the country. So it's quite possible that at least initially most of the towns and even cities could have avoided any outbreaks and then even fortified themselves afterwards. With the Yalu River to the north and the DMZ to the south, it's possible most of the country could have survived for a while at least.

This scenario might be worth a look see one day as it certainly would have been different to what happened to most of the rest of the world I would imagine.

I've started writing recaps of the Wish You Were Here chapters for my website to see how people would react because no one there has a clue what Crossed is. And it has actually caused several people to check it out here, whic hwas unexpected. Anyway, my favorite comment so far is is "“It is my fond hope that after an apocalypse I'd be dead. Or, at least, in this case, a plusface. They seem happy.”"

@Haggy That is something I have considered as well. If I were living the Crossed world, it would, at some point, if it got really really bad, be very tempting to just infect myself. The Crossed pretty much take everything in stride: hunger, weather, pain, etc. And with a huge smile on their faces. Maybe if I was nearly dead from starvation, could barely move, then hey, touch some blood and spend your remaining hours chuckling to myself.

I've been quiet lately but Si, just wanted to say that the past few issues have been exceptionally stellar. I loved the dialogue-less series of events at fort. Bloody fist fucking brilliant. I'm holding out on buying the TPB in hopes of an omnibus one day. Fingers x'd.